Every high school has a rivalry. Every rivalry has bitter moments in history. In Jefferson County La., this is one of those moments.Twenty-five Male High school students -- including six football players -- were suspended Friday for their involvement in a school prank against Manual High that involved six toilets, a lot of waste and many cans of spray paint.
Gross you say? Well, the prank was in response to one supposedly pulled by Manual students who dumped a truckload of manure in the parking lot and spray-painted curse words on the football field.
Let's just say the manure really hit the fan for the 25 suspended Male students, but what about those responsible for the manure pile in the Male parking lot? So far, they have not been able to prove who was responsible.
The rivalry between Male High School and Manual High is over 100 years old, but never before have things gotten this ugly between the two schools. Jefferson County Public School officials say that pranks between the two schools are not uncommon leading up to big sporting events, but that the vandalism and manure crossed the line.
Pranks between rival schools and teams are common. But there is a line between a harmless prank and something much more serious. This one crossed the line.
In my Northern Va. high school, we certainly had one main rival school and pranks were not uncommon. During my tenure, the worst prank to go down (don't worry, I was not involved) was when some students dug our school letters into the opposing team's football field. It seemed like the end of the world to those six students, but they weren't even suspended.
That's because there is a huge difference between digging oversized letters into a football field, and putting a lot of poo and spray painting profanities around the school. Yes, vandalism is a crime, and graffiti is against the law. But with the outburst of swine flu, school officials have enough sanitation issues to deal with without worrying about contaminated manure.
Follow Chris Sesno on twitter: @csesno
